Defined Benefits

The costs of pensions and other benefits for retired employees are generally growing faster than revenues, crowding out funding for health care, education and infrastructure projects, according to the report.

The $281 billion fund earned 25.6 percent on its publicly traded equity holdings while private equity, which lags three months, gained 19 percent through the end of September.

As individuals become more optimistic about living past age 75, they extend their planned retirement dates and increase their expectations about working to the milestone ages of 62, 65 or Social Securitys full retirement age.

The donors want to the money go to retirees, whose pensions may be underfunded by as much as $3.5 billion and who have challenged the citys right to be in bankruptcy.

The funded ratio of the Fortune 1000 pension plans improved slightly from the previous year to 74 percent and 70 percent of companies had a funded status of less than 80 percent.

Fidelity's 401(k) team put together a list of trends it believes will gain traction in the coming months, including higher adoption of Roth 401(k) and managed account options.

Corporate pension funds ended 2013 95 percent funded compared to a Towers Watson analysis which shows that 70 percent of systems were less than 80 percent funded at the end of 2012.

The retirees said the citys decision to reduce funding of vested health-care benefits by 83 percent, starting in March, will force retirees to spend money out of pocket to replace the coverage.